infusco

Forms

īnfuscō (present infinitive īnfuscāre, perfect active īnfuscāvī, supine īnfuscātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-¹ + fuscō (“to darken”).^[2][1] The TLL derives it from ⟨in⟩ and fuscus (“dark”), comparing fuscō.^[3] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *fusko- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰus-ko- (“dark-coloured”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus on.^[3] In the Cistellaria he uses it of drink, in the sense “to contaminate, spoil”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is “to darken, discolour”: an unnamed tragedian has an uncut beard darkening the chest,^[2] Virgil uses it of fleeces and of sand stained with gore,^[5] and Pliny the Elder of water darkened with ink and of lightning that blackens without burning.^[5] Figuratively it meant to corrupt or spoil something, a sense already in Plautus.^[2] The elder Seneca applies it to a voice made dull and husky by night work and neglect.^[2]

In Late Latin, the Old Latin Bible and Rufinus' translation of Origen use the participle of darkened skin, in the Song of Songs.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of spoiling drink and of making a mess of something.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of darkening fleeces and staining sand.^[5][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of water darkened with ink.^[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To darken, make dusky, discolour.^[2][5]
2. To contaminate, corrupt, especially figuratively.^[2]
3. To make a mess of, spoil.^[2]
4. To make the voice dull or husky.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de